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Tokyo Adventure
  • Leanne Douras
  • Leanne Douras

Tokyo Adventure

A 12-day adventure by Leanne Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 10, 2016
  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Narita Airport

    July 11, 2016 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Just got off my flight from Amsterdam. Good selection of movies on flight. Watched The Jungle Book but when you decide to watch Carol on the in flight sat next to an old Japanese couple and a full blown lezza Sex scene comes on 😶

    Couldn't get away from work though with the table crackers .    Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    The Narita Express

    July 11, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    So I got right off the plane and headed straight for the ticket office to get my rail pass. The lovely lady then booked me onto the Narita Express to Ikebukuro right away. I was worried that I wouldn't make the train because I had to go upstairs to collect my pocket WiFi from the post office. Luckily post offices aren't like the UK with queues out the door, managed to catch the train and got a glimpse of Skytree on the way. Can't wait to go up that.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Reached my Hotel

    July 11, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    It didn't take me long to reach my hotel. It's not even a 10 minute walk from Ikebukuro station. It's not a massive room. Kind of the size of a student dorm room but it does have a double bed and a Mini fridge.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Friends reunited

    July 11, 2016 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    I decided to hop the train a couple of stops to Shinjuku for a little wander round. It was starting to get dark so I knew the neon lights would be out soon. My friend Sayaka, who I met on my Scotland trip a few years back, asked if I wanted to meet her after work for a drink. I ended up getting some close up views of Shinjuku Tower and the Cocoon tower. When Sayaka arrived we didn't know what we wanted to eat so we just chose a place at random. The whole menu was in Japanese so I told her to just order anything and surprise me. A grapefruit sour drink, Sea urchins, snails, grilled tuna head, self grilled peppers (my chop stick skills are something to be desired, dropping one of the peppers on the floor) sashimi and tuna sushi. Every bit of it I tried and every bit of it I liked, especially the snails. We then ended up having a drink in a Kirin bar. Monitoring beer for her and a Kiran hard cider for me. A very pleasurable evening. She is a funny girl that Sayaka.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Chilling up high

    July 12, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    It's been rather a hot one today so far. Sun shining and very humid. I started my morning off by hopping the Yamanote line to Nippori so I could have a walk around Yanaka Cemetery. It was nice to be in a peaceful place in the middle of the hustle bustle of Tokyo. There were so many crows there just sitting off on some of the gravestones. I thought one was actually a statue and got a fright when it squawked at me.

    Next, I decided to get back on the train to Ueno but at the last minute I changed my mind and stayed on to Tokyo Station then headed for the Imperial Palace Gardens. I didn't see any Koi carp but I did see a bottle nose turtle. It was so hot walking around the park though. I was melting!

    After the gardens I made my way to get the train to Odaiba. Again, another last minute change of plan. I noticed that the next stop was Hamamatsucho and remembered there's an observatory floor that I wanted to check out. I wasn't disappointed. How can you not love sitting with a 360° view of Tokyo accompanied by calm piano tunes. I'm still sat up here typing this. I suppose I better make a move.

    Onward to Odaiba!

    Jah!    Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Melting on a man made beach

    July 12, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Travelling on from the fantastic views at Seaside Top I arrived at Odaiba. I was a bit peckish so I stopped off and bought some onigiri to snack on then made my way towards the river. Turns out there is a man made beach there. The weather being as it was, unlike me? I really wanted to find some shade (I was already feeling a bit burnt from my trip around the Imperial Gardens). I managed to find a nice rock under around tree to sit and have my onigiri snacks admiring the view and watching the futuristic waterbus depart.

    After my sit down around the the beach I went in search of the Giant Gundam at Divercity Mall. On the way I met up with a replica Statue of Liberty and passed the Fuji TV building . I found the Gundam and I was so impressed by it. It looked so cool!

    I was still melting(burning) so I went inside the mall to cool off. Had a nose around a few clothes shops thinking I will get a couple of t-shirts...Er no, most of them were size XXS. I guess there's no room for fatties here in Japan haha

    I decided to make my way back to the hotel after that. I was so tired from being in the hot humidity for 8 hours that I ended up falling asleep. I know, boring. My friend tells me Odaiba is beautiful at night time so maybe I can have another trip here if I have time    Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Gotta Catch em' all!

    July 13, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I was due to meet my friend Noriko today but I had a little bit of time before that so I took a stroll to the Pokémon Mega Centre. It was amazing! Shelves head to toe with Pokémerch and the actual Pokémon Centre theme song playing. It took me right back to playing Pokemon Blue back in the day. They had big statues of blue Mega Charizard, Mega charizard with Pikachu sitting on top of him Daenerys style. There was just so much I could have bought but restrained myself with a little Pikachu. I may have to go back if I have time.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Meeting an old friend

    July 13, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After my trip to the Pokémon Centre I hopped on a train to Shinjuku and met with my friend Noriko. I can't believe we have known each other for 10 years now. We made our way to Roppongi Hills as Noriko was taking me to a Studio Ghibli exhibit. It was so cool seeing all the Ghibli memorabilia and actual concept art. We had a great time catching up, remembering old times. We got some great pictures of Tokyo from the observation deck. It was a rainy day but still a great view. We stopped off for a quick lunch then made our way to Shibuya.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Criss Crossing

    July 13, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    My friend Noriko offered to take me on a little walk through Shibuya to Harajuku. It was great seeing the Shibuya crossing (the one in all the movies) again. We then moved onto Ometosando where Noriko showed me Kiddyland. I remember buying a DBZ t-shirt from there on my last visit. I came out with a little Moomin plush and had to drag myself away from all the cool figurines. Maybe I should go back for them? I would never get them all on the planeRead more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    So many People

    July 13, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After my little splurge at Kiddyland we then made our way to Harajuku. It was SO busy, wading through a sea of people. All you can see down the main street is people's heads. I don't remember it being so busy last time I was here. Thank you Noriko for showing me aroundRead more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Last minute food plans

    July 13, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    I finished my day with Noriko and took myself back to the hotel when I got a message from my friend Sayaka asking if I wanted to meet with her for dinner after she finished work. We arranged for me to jump the train to Ebisu as she did the same so we would get there around the same time. I quickly got changed and made the journey. We tried a couple of restaurants but they were full so we walked for bit and managed to get into one.
    She ordered us a couple of dishes, oyster, 2 types of sashimi, sour gourd and fried sardine. It was my first time trying oyster and it was not how I expected it to taste. I expected a very salty taste but it was not salty at all to me. It was a slight meaty taste. We had such a laugh chatting away and remembering old conversations. Man she is a fast drinker though. I was a whole pint of grapefruit sours behind her. Next time I see her we will be going to Mount Fuji 😀    Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Shinagawa, Japan

    July 14, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today I was to be heading to Nikko. My friend Agasei wanted me to meet her at Shinagawa and then set off from there. This meant I had to brave the rush hour crush on the train from Ikebukuro. At first I was a bit worried when everyone piled onto the train and I was squished against so many people but as we cleared a few stations I managed to shift myself to a part of the carriage where I had better leverage to push back against the swarm of commuters. I held onto this prize location for the rest of the ride and reached Shinagawa on time. I can't imagine having to do that every morning to get to work. Phew!Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Taito, Japan

    July 14, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    My friend Agasei and I switched trains at Asakusa where we went to the tourism office to book a round trip and attraction ticket. I wasn't exactly sure which ticket Agasei chose really but we set off anyway for a 2 hour journey.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Unfortunate ticket choices

    July 14, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We arrived at Tobu Nikko station and got ourselves a bus ticket to travel around the area. I was really aware of the time as I knew the ticket type we had could only be used on certain trains. We stopped off at one of the many shrines and then found out that the ticket we bought didn't cover the shrine areas so we made the decision to head to a spa that Agasei had booked us into.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Onsen spa time

    July 14, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We arrived at the spa and got changed into the brown hotel comfy clothes. Agasei wasn't too fond of the outfit as she preferred to wear yukata. Our room had 2 small double beds, a small tatami area and on the balcony had our own hot spring bath. It looked very fancy.
    Agasei asked if I wanted to try the public hot springs or would I prefer our private one. I was very hesitant as the public spring usually have rules about having tattoos and the personal one I felt a bit self conscious. We filled the personal one up just in case but we decided to sit and have a couple of drinks first. It was good chatting, catching up then later on we headed down to check out the public spring and gym and found out we could borrow yukata. Agasei was happy about this so we requested and went back to the room to change. It was so cool wearing yukata. Agasei had me posing here there and everywhere to take pictures. I'm not so good at posing the way she wanted me to but oh well.
    I finally plucked up the courage and we went down to the public spring. It was empty so I don't know own why I was panicking so much hehe. Anyway it was so hot but it felt good. I really enjoyed just relaxing and chatting with Agasei. It was close to 11pm and we were both feeling sleepy so we washed off and went back to our room and got our heads down for sleep. My first hot spring experience! 😀    Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Around the World in a Day

    July 15, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We woke up 7am bright and early and went for our buffet breakfast. Agasei got a lot of food and she managed most of it. She must have been starving because she missed dinner the day before. That set us up nicely for our trip to Tobu World Square, which is one of those places that had landmarks in miniature form. The models were so detailed you could tell a lot of work had gone into them, even in the information centre you could see the detailed schematics of the replica buildings. Agasei was snap happy again taking selfies with everything and anything. She even snapped me being boiled in a huge stock pot 😁

    Once we had finished touring the place we went to the cafe for some ramen and gyoza before getting the bus to the train station read for Tokyo. I do like my gyoza and I'm getting better with my chopsticks I think 😌    Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    The Shiny New Tower

    July 15, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Agasei and I were on the train back from Nikko and out ticket allowed us to stop off at the Tokyo Skytree station so we thought we would check it out. I was still unsure whether I wanted to go up Skytree Tower then or leave it for better weather.(it had been raining all day and the top looked very misty). As we were walking around the mall, I noticed a sign for a new Pokémon Mega Centre and I was excited to see it. I knew I wanted to see the Skytree lit up but it was still a wait to go before it got dark. I really didn't want to drag Agasei around the Pokémon Centre and places knowing she was tired and carrying a suitcase. I decided to stay on my myself (I hope Agasei wasn't offended) and took myself around the new Pokémon Centre and a few character stores. When it finally got dark I was able to catch a great picture with Skytree. It looked fantastic but still, Tokyo Tower will always be the one for me 😁Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    The Red Torii

    July 16, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    I woke up intending to head to Meiji-jingu, however I didn't feel to good when I got up so I stayed back at the hotel until I felt right. I decided not to see Meiji-jingu and headed straight for Hei Shrine. The place was busy with people visiting to pray but round the back there was a nice quiet area leading to steps within a row of red Torii gates which looked Amazing. I'm so glad I got to come here.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Hibiya Park and a Mini Monster

    July 16, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    From Hei Shrine I made my way through Hibiya Park which is the first western style park in Tokyo. It's mad having these little parks dotted around in amongst the shops and office buildings. I made my way across to see Godzilla statue. He was tiny, bless him. I took a quick stroll through Gina before heading to my next destination.Read more

  • Leanne DourasTokyo AdventureLeanne Douras

    Shopping anyone?

    July 16, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Most tourists come to Ueno for the park zoo and museums. I did the whole thing on my previous trip, but I didn't really want to stay here too long so I decided to just have a short walk round an area I didn't see last time. I never knew there was such a huge market shopping area! There were so many people (not as many as Harajuku though) and a pachinko place that was so loud. I passed quite a few kebab shops too. Like back home with a pizza/kebab shop on every corner.Read more

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